I’ve asked the doyen of knitting, Erin Douglas, to write a few articles for me on one of her favorite subjects 🙂

Over to you Erin…

Little scarves – I’ve got to tell you, I find knitting scarves a bit boring. As in, a LOT boring. Even an intricately patterned one is super repetitive after a while, and they take so long!

So when I discovered a bunch of cute neckwarmers it was like a whole new world had opened up – gone are the days of dragging a metre or more of scarf around with you as you go, now the longest your piece will be is about 50cm.

These little scarves go by a range of names – kercheifs, neckwarmers, and cowls. Generally they’re quick to complete, and mostly only use one ball of yarn. Here are a few of my favourites:

A very simple kerchief is the Baktus – the whole thing is knitted sideways in stockinette stitch (knit only, no purl) with easy increases and decreases. A simple scarf that looks great, is warm, and doesn’t take too long to make. If you’re up for something more advanced there are plenty of modified versions around, especially if you look through other people’s projects on Ravelry or flickr .

My favourite neckwarmers are the bainbridge remix and the bow scarf . These two take up next to no room in your handbag (when knitting or using) and only need 1 ball of wool. I often am asked where I bought these two, and it’s awesome to say that I made them, to see the looks of admiration.

Lastly, cowls. This incredibly quick and dirty cowl, the wham bam thankyou lamb , is the very best first project that you can do. It takes no time at all and is really just a big rectangle sewn together at an angle and looks awesome.

The fifth avenue infinity scarf however is a bigger commitment, and can often send you insane as you re-count your stitches to find you’ve dropped one of the 221 stitches somewhere. It will also be incredibly rewarding when you finish, or at least I hope – I am halfway through it now!

These are great projects to get started on now for the coming winter and remember, you could have made 3 little scarves by the time you finish a traditional long scarf!